The Shiv Sena’s support for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in the ongoing debate on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill may raise an eyebrow or two when seen in the light of the Maharashtra party’s history of nativist politics — and its early hostility to South Indians.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Citizenship Amendment Bill being discussed in Rajya Sabha
- Sena’s Raut says nothing in draft law for Lankan Tamil Hindus
- Sena helped govt pass bill in LS, says further support conditional
Acontroversial draft law on refugee naturalisation that’s being discussed in Parliament contains no provisions for Tamil Hindu refugees from Sri Lanka, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut says.
Raut’s comments were reported by ANI, a news agency, just moments before the Rajya Sabha began discussing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
The bill offers a path to Indian citizenship to non-Muslim illegal immigrants who faced religious persecution in three Islamic South Asian nations: Pakistan, Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) and Afghanistan.
“Nothing in this bill for Tamil Hindus of Sri Lanka.”
Criticism has largely focused on the exclusion of Muslims from the purview of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, but a number of public figures — such as Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and actor-politician Kamal Haasan — have brought up the plight of Tamil (and largely Hindu) refugees who fled Sri Lanka to escape persecution by Sinhalese outfits primarily professing Buddhism.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar✔@SriSri
I request the Government of India to consider giving citizenship to more than 1 lakh Tamil Sri Lankans who are living in this country as refugees for the last 35 years.#CABBill
The Shiv Sena’s origin lies in the staunch opposition to South Indian people, particularly Tamils, who were occupying prominent positions in Mumbai’s economy. Its early hostility towards South Indians was evident in Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s slogan “uthao lungi, bajao pungi“ (a derogatory reference to the dress of South Indians in general and Tamils in particular). The campaign is well-documented, not least in a recent biopic produced by Sanjay Raut.
Here’s a telling excerpt from an India Today magazine story dated December 30, 1999, titled ‘Harvester of Fear‘:
“In Shiv Sena’s first 1966 manifesto, the South Indian migrants were blamed for practically everything. Maharashtrians were strongly advised against employing people from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh; [Bal] Thackeray was even against buying Tamil Nadu state lottery tickets! He characterised all South Indians as supporters of the secessionist elements in the DMK. To add insult to insult, he also called them ‘Yendugendu wallahs [mocking their accent]’.”
But times change. More recently — 2016, to be precise — the Sena was reported to have offered support to Siva Senai, a Sri Lankan Hindu organisation opposing conversion to Buddhism.
Fast-forward to today: What is the Shiv Sena’s overall stand on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019?
It voted with government in the Lok Sabha, but says its support in the Rajya Sabha is conditional. It says it wants its questions on the bill answered first.
Inputs from PTI
Prasanta Patnaik